A New Beginning
by brokenstitches
Summary: A sudden interruption, and perhaps the beginning of something new. DMGW
1. Chapter One

**CHAPTER ONE**

He was still plagued by the nightmares. For years, his usually dreamless sleep was marred by the dark images: black cloaks, so dark they blended into the shadows of the night, the sinister whisper of a hiss, and the unmistakable flash of green light.

If he knew that these dreams, these visions that he had been having were even _remotely_ close to what the infamous Harry Potter was used to experiencing, his eyebrow would ever so slightly raise, as if the mere thought was ludicrous, and his lip would curl in disgust, because being linked in any way to Harry Potter was naturally seen as vile and degrading. That is, of course, if you were a Malfoy.

And he _was_ a Malfoy – filthy rich, arrogant, charming... He was also a manipulative and self-centred bastard. Yes, he was _definitely_ a Malfoy.

For eight years now he had been fighting the dreams. For eight years he had tried to forget. He had exhausted every option available to him and was resigned to the fact that he would never be able to run away from his past.

He hadn't even told Blaise. It wasn't that he didn't trust Blaise, for Blaise was probably the only person that he would trust with his life. It was mostly pride that had gotten in the way. After all, a Malfoy couldn't be seen showing any sign of weakness, and for Blaise to see him so affected by his dreams... No. Blaise was good when it came to having fun, not when it came to heart-to-heart talks about the past.

That was a day he shared with no one.

**. . . . . . . . . .**

Draco Malfoy found himself standing at the top of his flat, staring out at the mass of twinkling lights. It was all a bit surreal, now that he thought about it. After "The Final Battle", as most liked to call it, he found going back to the Malfoy Manor too painful. Too many haunting memories lingered there. His mother's death and... Lucius.

Draco sucked in a breath. Memories of his father, if you could even call him that, deserved to be locked away in the deep recesses of the mind, never to be let out. He let the air escape his mouth slowly, thinking back on the past eight years as he watched white clouds form in front of his face.

Lucius had been adamant that Draco follow in his footsteps to serve the Dark Lord, and Draco had complied, a small part of him wanting to believe that his father would never intentionally put him in a position of danger. He only realised how wrong he was the day that he came face to face with Dumbledore himself at the top of a tower in his sixth year.

In the few minutes he had spent pointing his wand at Dumbledore, he felt that Dumbledore cared for him the way his father never did, and never would. In those few minutes, he realised that all he had been brought up to believe, all that he had been taught... everything had been meaningless. A lie. His hand had faltered, and he had hesitated.

His memories became blurred at this point, with random images flashing out at him, as if his mind sub-consciously did not want to delve deeper into whatever it was that had changed him. He saw himself being rushed away by Snape after he, Snape, had killed Dumbledore. He saw the Dark Lord – Lord _Voldemort_ – sneering at Lucius for bringing up a son so useless, so... unworthy. He heard the word _Crucio_ repeated over and over in his head and remembered being racked with pain so white and hot that he could scarcely breathe. Most of all, he remembered his mother dying.

Another deep breath. No, going back to the manor anytime soon would definitely be a bad idea. He was better off with Blaise Zabini as a flatmate, despite all his infuriating antics and knack for attracting trouble...

**. . . . . . . . . .**

**About a month ago...**

"Ooompf!"

"Well well well... Look what we have here." Blaise Zabini smirked as he surveyed the sight lying at his feet. The floor was strewn with what seemed like the entire contents of Flourish And Blotts, with rolls of parchment escaping under every desk and there, smack in the middle of it all, was a fuming redhead.

"Who in the worl-... Zabini!" the redhead growled. "Too busy with your nose up in the air to watch where you're going?"

"Manners, Weasley..." Blaise said with a pleasant grin on his face. "I do believe _you_ bumped into _me_, thus owing _me_ an apology, instead of sitting there with a mouth open so wide that you could pass off as a bullfrog waiting for a fly."

Ginny, who had been preparing for a retort, closed her mouth and looked at the mess surrounding her. To Blaise's amusement, she dissolved in giggles and then promptly clapped her hands over her mouth as she drew irritated looks from the Ministry workers bustling all around, every now and then allowing a snort of laughter to escape.

"I suppose you'd be wanting help then?" Blaise winked, as he knelt down beside her.

Not waiting for a reply, he moved quickly around the room, Summoning stray rolls of parchment that had become lodged in any hard-to-reach places. Transfiguring a quill into a bag, he tipped everything inside and held out a hand to Ginny, who was still sitting on the ground, her mouth now open again, this time in disbelief.

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Are you... all right?" he asked, suddenly wondering if the collision had somehow affected her mental state. After all, she _had_ been laughing hysterically just a moment before and now she was staring at him, wide-eyed and speechless.

"I... Err. Yes. Yes, I'm all right." Ginny cautiously accepted his hand and brushed herself off as she took the bag off Blaise's other hand. "Erm... You... Helped... Bag..." she started, vaguely waving her hand around, but trailed off as she realised she didn't know what she was about to say.

Blaise, on the other hand, knew exactly what she was implying.

"Being evil isn't a prerequisite for a Slytherin you know." He laughed as she blushed, knowing that he had answered her unspoken thoughts. "Sure, we can be manipulative. We can be devilishly attractive." Another wink. "I'll even say that we can be self-preserving, or _cowardly_ as you Gryffindors like to say. But. We are _not_, and I'll only say this once Weasley, we are _not_ all evil. Now enough of that, where are you heading?"

Ginny, caught off-guard with that swift change of topic, answered without thinking. "Oh! I was on my way to bring these," she indicated the rolls of parchment in the bag, "to my father. Something about how they were important and he had left them at home... If they were that important he should've remembered to bring the bloody things himself! Instead _I_ have to leave work to bring them over! Men!"

Blaise chuckled, shaking his head. "We're not all that bad, honest. C'mon, I'll walk you." He lifted the bag off her shoulder and walked towards the lift without waiting for her.

Realising she was left standing in the middle of the hall by herself, Ginny scrambled to catch up with Blaise who was waiting patiently by the lift. She found it easy to talk to Blaise, something she would have never imagined was possible.

"Oh, we're here..." she said, finding herself almost sorry to say goodbye when they reached her father's office.

Blaise smirked at her crestfallen tone. "Don't worry, you'll be seeing a lot more of me I'm sure. Oh, and by the way..." At his words, Ginny glanced back to see Blaise wink before he sauntered away.

"You're welcome, Red."

**. . . . . . . . . .**

Draco frowned slightly at the thought of Blaise and that Weasley girl becoming fast friends within a week of them crashing into each other. _What does he see in her anyway_, he mused. _If she hadn't been in a relationship with Harry then, I would have thought he just wanted to get into her pants._ A scowl came over Draco's face. _Harry. If not for him, that Weasley girl would not be downstairs in _my_ flat at this very moment._

**. . . . . . . . . .**

**A couple days ago...**

"Draco! Oi! Draco!" Draco had been staring out the window for the past fifteen minutes, oblivious to his flatmate's attempts to get his attention.

Blaise huffed and slumped in his chair. Then he straightened up immediately, as if an ice cube had somehow found its way down his back, with a wicked grin on his face.

"Oh Drakie-poo!" Blaise whined and pouted, mimicking the ever-annoying Pansy Parkinson.

Draco suddenly sat up in alarm, looking wildly around for Pansy and attempted to hide behind his coffee cup. He stopped when he caught sight of Blaise doubled over the table in laughter, and delicately raised an eyebrow when his friend fell off his chair snorting.

"That. Was not funny."

"Oh _au contraire_ my friend, that _was_ funny," Blaise sniggered, unable to keep a straight face.

Draco snorted and made to reach for the Daily Prophet, but Blaise slammed a hand down on the newspaper before Draco could take it.

"Okay, what now?" Draco asked, exasperated with his friend's maddening behaviour. Draco Malfoy was definitely not a morning person, and he now regretted sharing a flat with Blaise, who could have played Quidditch for thirty days straight and would still have been bouncing around claiming he was feeling 'restless'. That guy definitely needed some help. Or a good pounding.

"I _was_ trying to get your attention. What's got you so dead to the world anyway?"

Draco groaned. "Sleep. Or lack thereof anyway. But never mind that. What did you so desperately need to tell me that you had to resort to sounding like that deranged excuse for a woman?"

"Okay, so remember how I met Ginny the other day at the Ministry? Well... Something's come up so ."

"Sorry, didn't catch that. Could you repeat what you just said?" A flicker of annoyance in Draco's grey eyes betrayed his nonchalant tone of voice.

Blaise grinned sheepishly. "Err… Ginny needs a place to stay and I told her she could stay with us?" he repeated weakly.

"Yeah, I think I heard you say _our_ flat. Which makes me wonder why _I_ wasn't consulted on this matter before. It's not bad enough I have to wake up to an obnoxious flatmate, but now you're inviting strangers into the flat? And a _Weasley_ at that? My my Zabini, this newly acquired _taste_ of yours leads me to question your insanity." Draco drawled lazily – it was much too early to get too riled up.

A smirk graced Blaise's face. He knew Draco well enough to know that it was easier to get away with things like this in the morning. He also knew that while Draco seemed irritated with the introduction of a new flatmate, he wouldn't really put up too much of a fuss about it. Draco was tolerant like that. Well, in the mornings anyway.

"So… I take you're fine with it? Good. She moves in tonight. Got to get to work now. Catch you later!" Blaise gulped down the rest of his coffee and Apparated into the Ministry before Draco could reply.

Draco narrowed his stormy grey eyes. _Tonight!_

**. . . . . . . . . .**

A sudden clatter shook Draco from his thoughts. He glared as he turned to see none other than Ginny Weasley standing not five feet away from him, the wind tossing her red hair across her face as she held a door handle in one hand, and a look of pure surprise on her face.


	2. Chapter Two

**CHAPTER TWO**

"Ow!" he heard, followed by a muttered curse.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't know anyone else was up here..." Ginny trailed off as she saw Draco Malfoy by the railing and the look of sheer displeasure that was on his face.

"Erm... I just wanted to get to the roof but the door was stuck and I was jiggling it for a bit but it wouldn't budge so I tried putting my weight against it and the door flew open and the handle sort of... fell off," she finished lamely.

Draco simply arched an eyebrow at her rambling and continued to look at her.

She followed Draco's eyes to the mess of broken pottery at her feet and an embarrassed flush came over Ginny's face. "And... I tend to be very clumsy... Don't look at me like that. I'll get it fixed first thing in the morning," she continued. Feeling self-conscious under the intensity of his stare, she snapped, "What, Malfoy?"

"I'm merely wondering why you are still here. Judging by the way you just rudely barged in, I'm not really expecting you to have enough manners to apologise to me… But don't you have something else to break, or someone else's privacy to invade? Or am I just too damned attractive that you can't tear your little weasel eyes away from me?" Draco said smoothly before turning his back to her.

He didn't need this right now. A headache was coming on and all he wanted was to be left alone, without a certain female Weasley talking about some broken door handle he couldn't care less about. He hoped that she would be offended enough to turn around and go back downstairs. _But of course, with my luck…_

Ginny clenched the door handle in her hand tightly, willing herself not to make an angry reply. _Be nice Ginny… I _will_ have to live with him for the next few weeks after all. But_ _oh that boy does make me so mad!_

_Be nice…_

"What?" She exploded. _Damn. Too late Gin._

"I was only here because I needed a quiet place to think. But if I had known that an insensitive, bigoted bastard who can't even look past someone's _name_ was here on the roof, I would have never even entertained the idea of coming up here!

"'Too damned attractive'?" she repeated mockingly. "_Ha!_ Still the same old delusional Malfoy aren't you? I knew I could've counted on you to still be the pathetic git you were all those years ago. At least _some_ things never change!"

With that, Ginny spun on her heel and stormed back down the stairs, muttering angrily under her breath.

A sigh escaped Draco's lips. _Finally._ With his pounding headache, he hadn't even been able to muster up the effort to make his usual scathing remarks and he sneered now, thinking back on what he had said. _Or am I just too damned attractive that you can't tear your little weasel eyes away from __me? _Draco shook his head slightly in disgust. _You're getting_ _weak, Malfoy._

Then, as he recalled Ginny's violent reaction, he turned and stared at the wide open door in bewilderment. _Wait, what the hell just happened?_

_**. . . . . . . . . .**_

_He's still the same Malfoy he was all those years ago! Arrogant. Conceited. Insulting. _She fumed as she made her way back to the flat. She thought that, like Blaise, Malfoy would have changed his attitude towards... Well, towards everyone really. But a very ill-tempered Malfoy had just proved her wrong. Ginny blamed her idealism for having her always assume the best of people, because it always led to disappointment. Now was no exception. _Argh!_ She silently screamed as she opened the door to the flat_. That insufferable git!_

**. . . . . . . . . .**

Blaise looked up from a Ministry document he was perusing, an amused expression on his face as he saw Ginny storm into the flat. She paced in front of Blaise gesticulating violently in the air, all the while still grumbling to herself. His eyes got tired of following the redhead and he went back to his work, determinedly ignoring her. Ginny then plopped herself down on the coffee table in front of Blaise, leaning on her elbows, her head in her hands, and glared at him.

His eyes still cast downward, Blaise sighed and said, "What's the matter, Red?" He had called her that the first time they bumped into each other at the Ministry and despite Ginny's half-hearted protests, the nickname had stuck.

"It's your bloody friend _Malfoy_!" she screamed in frustration.

_Draco?_ Blaise quirked an eyebrow, set aside his work and mirrored Ginny; elbows on knees, head in hands. This was probably much more interesting than Ministry work; besides, only that Granger woman would choose to work at one in the morning over potentially juicy gossip. With his face directly in front of hers, he prompted, "Go on then."

Ginny, satisfied that she had an audience, launched into a furious rant about Malfoy and their confrontation up on the roof. She knew she was probably exaggerating the magnitude of their conflict, but she was an angry Weasley, and angry Weasleys tend to overreact at times. Ron was a very good example of an overreacting Weasley – just show him a photo of Ginny holding hands with a boy.

"...and I didn't even know he was up there! I mean I wasn't intentionally trying to intrude or anything. If he wanted to be left alone he should've stayed in his room! The roof is open to anyone, _I_ shouldn't have to apologise to _him_!" she growled.

Ginny caught Blaise looking at her hand and she glanced down, realising that she was still clutching the door handle. "Hey it's not my fault that things start to break around me!" she said defensively, then sighed forlornly, "I'm beginning to think I'm a klutz."

Blaise set the handle aside and took Ginny's hands in his own, squeezing them gently. Ginny looked up at him, mentally comparing this sympathetic Slytherin to the moody one upstairs, and waited for Blaise's comforting words that she was sure would placate her frustration.

"How could you even _think_ you're a klutz, Red?" He began, and the corners of Ginny's mouth turned up faintly at the use of his pet name for her. _He _was _a nice Slytherin after all…_

A wicked grin spread across Blaise's face. "You should've known by now that you _are_, undoubtedly, a klutz."

His grin switched to an expression of terror as his words registered in her mind. He then gave a yelp as a snarling Ginny pounced on him and proceeded to hit him.

"Hey! It was a joke! A _joke_!" he panted, trying to stop her flailing fists from reaching their target. She was small, but she didn't grow up with six brothers without learning _something_ about how to fight – or at least how to physically hurt someone.

Ginny finally stopped, out of breath herself, and fell onto the sofa next to Blaise.

"Damn Ginny… That hurt!" Blaise whined, carefully examining himself for scratches or anything that would have disfigured his perfect skin.

"You asked for it," Ginny huffed in return, folding her arms across her chest.

"You," Blaise indicated, as his index finger touched the tip of her nose, "are mad at Draco. Don't take it out on my delicate self! I'll have you know I bruise like a peach." He pouted as Ginny snorted at his last comment.

Blaise put his arm around Ginny and drew her to him.

"Okay okay, I'm sorry. It's just... You may be making a bigger deal out of this than it really is. Draco's just grumpy because the prat hasn't been getting enough beauty sleep or something like that. I don't know why, but he frequents that roof quite often and probably, just like you, went up to get away from... whatever it is that's been bothering him.

"Then _you_ come along, bumbling like an elephant," he tossed a glance at Ginny and grinned when he saw her bottom lip stick out at his description of her. "And interrupt him when he thought he'd be alone. He responded in typical Malfoy-fashion and you took the bait, Red! And, you did _sort of_ overreact... If you think he was being a bastard, I'd like to see what he thinks of you now."

Ginny bit her lip as she listened to Blaise explain things to her from Malfoy's point of view. _Merlin, I've made a fool myself, haven't I?_ She shouldn't have gotten mad at what Malfoy had said because, like Blaise had so patiently told her, it _was_ a typical Malfoy thing to say. Why couldn't she have just let it go?

She began fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, thinking about how she had been so offended that she hadn't thought before responding. She had just been so infuriated; she hated the way Malfoy had the ability to make her feel so insignificant and inept. She still felt a thin streak of anger course through her as she thought about the incident now and sub-consciously thought of giving Malfoy one of her infamous Bat-Bogey hexes – again.

_Stop it, Ginny!_ She scolded herself. _It's been six years since I left Hogwarts and I still haven't matured one bit!_ Ginny reflected. All her anger was rapidly ebbing away as mortification at her earlier behaviour took over.

Blaise saw regret in her eyes and squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Red. Come tomorrow I'm sure he would have forgotten all about it. I mean, sure, now he probably thinks you're completely psychotic and irrational... But who doesn't?"

He managed to draw a small smile from Ginny with that last line and winked.

"C'mon, you must be exhausted. Let's get you to bed now."

Ginny sighed gratefully and trudged off to her bedroom. Soon, she was under her covers and Blaise playfully pinched her cheek before turning off the light.

"G'night, Red. Sweet dreams."

Snuggling into her blankets, Ginny buried her face in her pillow and inhaled the tangy peach scent of her shampoo, hoping that the familiar smell in the midst of her alien surroundings would allow her some much needed rest.

**. . . . . . . . . .**

Draco still hadn't come back to the flat. While he was still annoyed at Ginny's intrusion, he was more peeved about the fact that she now knew about the roof. No one else in the flat had ever bothered to find out if the roof was accessible to tenants and Draco had enjoyed using the roof as a place to escape to when he got too bogged down by work or his nightmares. Then she had to move in, and on her very first night here, manage to stumble in on his secret hideaway. And on top of disrupting him, she had exploded like one of those Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' fireworks and had even insulted him!

Sure, he admitted, he might have been part of the reason for her outburst, but he had still been quite shocked at seeing her temper in full glory. _'Too damned attractive'? Ha! Still the same old delusional Malfoy aren't you?_ He frowned. Since when did the she-Weasel start throwing back insults?

Glancing up, Draco saw a pale circle of light in the midst of the dark velvet of the sky and reluctantly decided to go back to bed.

As he passed through the door that Ginny had earlier burst through, he fingered the space where the door handle should've been, marvelling at how her petite frame so effectively disguised the strength she was clearly capable of unleashing.

Draco silently thanked whatever Gods there were that she hadn't been furious enough to hex him. Rubbing the side of his face gingerly, he winced as he remembered being on the receiving end of one of her Bat-Bogey hexes when they were at school. That embarrassing experience wasn't one he was too fond of and he had threatened to hex Crabbe and Goyle himself if they had ever told anyone about how he had been successfully hexed by the younger Weasley.

Before stepping into his flat, he poked his head cautiously around the door and saw Blaise on the sofa with his back to the door, parchment in one hand, his quill in the other. Every now and then he would mumble distractedly to himself and scratch out something on the parchment. Ginny was nowhere in sight. Draco quietly slipped in and nearly succeeded in trying to creep past Blaise when...

"You're not as stealthy as you think you are, you know."

Draco sighed and turned to see Blaise hanging over the back of the sofa. "Whaat? You're not!" Blaise put his hands up in mock innocence and grinned.

Draco cast his eyes to the ceiling and muttered, "This has not been my night." Then he said curtly to Blaise, "I'm going to bed."

"Wait." Draco raised an eyebrow at Blaise's sudden change of tone. He no longer sounded teasing and he had taken on an unsmiling expression. As much as Draco wanted to ignore his friend, he knew that it had to be something serious for Blaise to look the way he did now. He groaned and made his way to Blaise, fell on the sofa and put one of the cushions on his face, as if suffocating himself was the only way he'd get some peace.

Blaise could just made out a muffled voice grunting, "This had better be good." He smiled grimly.

"It's about Ginny."

_Ugh, not her again_, Draco groaned inwardly. He picked the cushion off his face and defensively said, "I don't know what she told you but sh-"

"I know," Blaise said, cutting him off. "She blew up in your face and all that." He waved his hand dismissively, not unlike the way Draco had done to Ginny earlier that night. "She was feeling really guilty about it by the way." He added as Draco snorted in incredulity and covered his face with the cushion again.

"I just wanted you to remember that she's still raw from her break-up with Harry. She's vulnerable, Draco, _despite_ how she acted up there," he stated firmly, as Draco had thrown off the cushion and had his mouth open ready to disagree.

_She didn't seem vulnerable _at all_ when she looked incensed enough to throw the door handle at my head_, Draco retorted to himself.

"Knowing her the way I do, I'm guessing she'll be apologising to you tomorrow, even though the girl absolutely _loathes_ apologising for anything. Proud as a Gryffindor lion she is," Blaise said and smiled fondly at the thought of Ginny having to bite her tongue and reluctantly apologise to Draco.

"Just accept her apology tomorrow. She's already going through a hard time without having to live with an arse like you too."

Draco stared at his flatmate, or one of them anyway, with his mouth slightly open. "You've gone slightly soft in the head I think."

Blaise leant back and smirked. "So this Slytherin learnt to care. Worse things have happened."

At that, Blaise gathered up his work and went to bed, leaving a brooding Draco lying on the sofa.

**. . . . . . . . . .**

Back in his bedroom Draco was spread out on his bed, still unable to sleep. He furrowed his brow as snatches of Ginny's rant came floating back to him. _I knew I could've counted on you to still be the pathetic git you were all those years ago. At least _some_ things never change!_ Although he tried to push those words from his mind, he couldn't help wondering what she had meant by that. What _had_ changed for Weasley? What exactly happened between her and Harry?

Sighing, Draco folded his arms behind his head and stared at his ceiling, not knowing that on the other side of his bedroom wall, a certain redhead was lying awake in her bed, having as much trouble sleeping as he was.


	3. Chapter Three

**CHAPTER THREE**

The next day, Ginny woke up, disorientated and confused by her unfamiliar surroundings. This room was too big to be her room back in The Burrow, and the room she had had at Harry's had a single bed, not a double. Casting her eye warily around the room, she spotted an old photo of a younger Blaise waving and winking cheekily at the camera.

_Oh._ She recalled, relaxing at the thought that she was in Blaise's flat. _No wait_, she corrected herself, _Blaise and _Draco's_ flat_. Ginny grimaced, remembering the way she had humiliated herself in front of Draco by completely losing her head at the insult he had thrown her way last night.

She looked around for a bathroom. If she was going to apologise to Malfoy, she might as well look presentable. There really was no point in giving him more opportunities to insult her; with her wand so readily by her side she didn't know if she could restrain herself to just a heated exchange this time, and she wasn't warming up to the thought of having to live with someone with a bedpost for a head.

_At least that'll shut him up_, she giggled to herself.

Half an hour later, Ginny emerged from the bathroom, humming softly to herself while drying her hair. Throwing on a pair of faded jeans and dark green t-shirt, she sighed heavily, and walked out of her bedroom like a convict walking to the gallows.

Ginny heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Blaise reading the Daily Prophet at the kitchen table – alone.

"Has he come down with something? Perhaps he needs to stay in bed for the rest of the day? Or maybe even the rest of the week?" she asked hopefully.

Blaise chuckled and set aside the newspaper, shaking his head, "No such luck. That guy hardly ever gets ill."

A door opened and Ginny and Blaise both turned their heads at the sound. Draco walked out casually scratching his head, further mussing up his white-blond hair, and not noticing he was just in his boxers.

Blaise amusedly cleared his throat. "Attractive as you may be in all your half-naked glory, we _do_ have a lady living with us now, and while she may secretly be enjoying the view... Let's leave some to the imaginati- Ouch!"

Ginny had elbowed Blaise in mid-speech and he was now rubbing his side, glaring at her offending elbow.

"You really should stop doing that."

"Doing what?" Ginny asked innocently, a smile playing on her lips as she sipped from her teacup.

Draco narrowed his eyes and turned to go back into his bedroom, emerging five minutes later with an old t-shirt and a pair of pyjama bottoms on. He stretched out his arms and turned slowly on the spot.

"Happy?"

"Mm… Ecstatic," Blaise replied dryly, without lifting his head up from the Daily Prophet.

Ginny had gone back to biting her lip and was suddenly very absorbed in her teacup.

_Fight or flight, Ginny… Although I suppose it _was_ the fight option that had led to this situation in the first place… So maybe this doesn't really apply now… And it's not really fighting, is it? No punches or slaps or anything... It's probably more like facing-the-consequences or flight…_

_Fantastic. I'm rambling. To myself. In my head. Maybe I could plead insanity._

Sneering, Draco took a seat across Ginny at the round table and reached for a piece of toast, paying no attention to her.

Ginny looked up and said, unnaturally cheerfully, "Morning, Malfoy." _Fight it is then._

The sound of his knife scraping the surface of the piece of toast stopped momentarily, and Ginny was about to celebrate silently when Draco resumed buttering his toast as if nothing had happened.

_You can't ignore me forever, Malfoy._ Ginny chirped up again, "Coffee, Malfoy?"

Draco raised an eyebrow and glanced at Blaise. Blaise had his eyes fixed resolutely to the newspaper in front of him, but there was no denying the slight smirk on his face.

He awkwardly cleared his throat. "Er... Yes. ...Thanks."

Blaise's smirk grew wider behind his newspaper at hearing Draco thank Ginny. Either Draco was still half-asleep and didn't realise his slip, or he had actually listened to Blaise last night and was trying to act civil.

Ginny's chipper tone now faltered. "Erm, Malfoy. I just wanted to... apologise... for what I had said last night. I admit I overreacted and... I'm sorry."

Instinctively, Draco snorted. "You think?" He then gasped in pain as Blaise 'accidentally' stepped on his foot – hard.

Blaise widened his eyes and had a look of mock surprise came over his face. "Oh, was that _your_ foot?"

Glowering, Draco hissed a "yes" before gritting out to Ginny, "Apology accepted."

Ginny's eyes had been flying back and forth at the exchange between the two Slytherins and they snapped back to Draco now.

"Oh! Oh that's... That's great!" she said, visibly relieved.

Setting down his newspaper, Blaise surveyed the scene from behind his coffee cup. Draco appeared disgruntled, and was attacking his breakfast like it had been the one that had trodden on his foot. Ginny was still perched on the edge of her chair, apparently still bothered by something. Blaise mimicked turning a door handle and Ginny nodded slightly.

He grinned and leant forward with anticipation. _I don't think Draco has had enough fun yet._

"Erm... One more thing, Malfoy," she began, "About the door handle-"

"Actually, I think Draco would be _more_ than happy to take care of that for you. He's always complaining about what a mess the roof is in so it'll be like killing two birds with one stone. No trouble at all, right Draco?" Blaise cut in smoothly; hardly flinching at the dangerous look Draco was giving him.

_This was definitely the time for Blaise to get that pounding, _Draco thought, picturing a very, _very_ hurt Blaise writhing on the ground. _Now_ that _would be no trouble at all._

There was a pause as Ginny looked apprehensively at Draco. "It's quite all right, really. I can fix the door handle myself. And all the other stuff I broke too."

"No. I'll do it. No trouble at all," Draco mumbled reluctantly, his stormy grey eyes catching Ginny's light brown ones for a second before turning back to glare at Blaise.

Blaise smirked before leaning back in his chair. "Right then, now that that's settled, where are we off to this lovely day?"

**. . . . . . . . . .**

"You really didn't have to come, you know." Ginny said as Blaise yawned for the second time.

He had been shocked when he heard that Ginny was willingly going to work on a weekend and had insisted on accompanying her. Draco had, not surprisingly, refused to tag along. Now they were in a large glittering shop in Diagon Alley, filled from floor to ceiling with spacious cages and tanks containing hundreds of magical creatures, some of which Blaise had never even heard of before.

"Ah yes, well I figured having an insanely attractive man to talk to was better than talking to all these animals." Blaise flashed her his most charming smile after turning away in disgust at a hairy Porlock – a horse guardian.

"An insanely attractive man? Where?" Ginny made a show of looking everywhere but Blaise, and even peered into a cage of squeaking Puffskeins.

Blaise pretended to look hurt. "I'm insulted! After all that we've been through, Red!" He cried theatrically, clutching his chest and staggering back. "I bared my soul to you! I even told you _I loved you_! And this is how you repay me? My heart is broken. Never again will I love!"

Ginny tried to speak but was overcome with a fit of giggles that she could only gasp and point in Blaise's direction.

"No, don't speak! It's... it's too late. I have found _another_!" He proclaimed passionately as he took another step back.

Blaise dramatically turned his head away from Ginny only to give a horrified yell and leapt back in fright at the large furry face that was pressed up against the glass, a second ago only an inch away from his face.

Ginny gave a scream of laughter and collapsed behind the counter, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh, don't stop now!" said a familiar voice.

"Just as it was getting fun," agreed an equally familiar voice.

"Twenty Galleons to see that smashing performance again!"

"Thirty to see Ginny fall on her arse again!"

"But the look on Zabini's face..."

"Priceless!"

Both voices seemed to blend into one as they both erupted into loud guffaws.

"Fred? George?" Ginny poked her head out to see two identically freckly redheads leaning on either side of the doorway, a wicked twinkle in their dark brown eyes. "Fred! George!" She shrieked as she ran into their open arms. "I've missed you!"

"It hasn't been that long since we last met, Gin!" Fred said, messing up her hair.

"Only a month," George remarked.

"Maybe a week," Fred mused.

"Yesterday," George grinned, messing up her hair just as she had finished patting it down again.

Ginny beamed happily back. So much had happened within the space of one day that she felt like she had been away from her family for ages. She broke away from the hug as she heard Blaise clearing his throat.

She hurried to him and offered a hand. "Oh Blaise, I tried to warn you!" She laughed as he tugged at her hand playfully before hoisting himself up.

He dusted himself off and grinned good-naturedly at the Weasley twins, nodding an acknowledgement, before looking carefully at the furry head that was sticking out of a large mound of dirt behind the glass.

"Uh... Ginny? What _is_ this thing?" He asked, taking a tentative step closer to the furry thing.

"Your new lover apparently, Zabini," Fred quipped as Ginny started laughing again. Blaise scowled at the Weasley twin before turning back to the glass enclosure.

George peered over one shoulder. "That there is a Jarvey. Looks a bit like an overgrown ferret, doesn't it?"

Fred appeared over Blaise's other shoulder. "That it does, George. Sounds a bit like _the_ ferret too, if you know what I mean."

"They're just being silly. Jarveys are able to talk, and are slightly mischievous as they come out with really rude phrases and the like," Ginny explained.

"How does that sound like… _Oh._" Blaise smirked as he finally saw the connection.

"Anyway, how about we all go down to the Three Broomsticks and our dear little sister can tell us why this Slytherin is proclaiming his love for her?" George said briskly, gesturing towards the door.

"Not to _her_, mate, " Fred said seriously as they were walking out. He furtively glanced around before saying in a stage whisper, "To the _Jarvey_!" as they all cracked up again.

. . . . . . . . . .

Ginny sat by her window, staring at the apartment blocks opposite. One of the square windows of light in the flat opposite went out. _There's another one out for the count,_ she thought.

Without warning, an image of Malfoy flashed in her mind. _Is he up on the roof, alone again?_ She wondered. She quietly picked up her dressing gown and creaked open her door gently; the rest of the flat was dark and shadowy. Outside the flat, a dim light flickered weakly above her head.

Instinctively, she made her way to the stairs that led to the roof. At the foot of the steps, she paused, wondering if Malfoy would be furious to see her again. Then, as her brother's words came floating back to her, she climbed the stairs with increasing resolve until she could feel a faint wind blowing through the mesh net of the door. Ginny noted that the door handle had been fixed.

She meekly pushed the door open, and saw, as she expected, a lone figure sitting on the low ledge, white-blond hair blowing in the breeze. Draco looked up, surprised to see Ginny standing by the door again, but this time without a broken door handle in her hand.

"Wha-" He started to say, but was cut off by Ginny's raised hand.

She plonked herself down on the opposite end of the ledge. "Here. At this distance, I can't _possibly_ be bothering you." Ginny quirked a small smile and turned away. Draco continued to gape at Ginny. After a while, he shifted his eye to a fixed point on the street below and soon forgot that she was there altogether. After five minutes of blessed silence, she piped up again. "So, why do you come up here all the time?"

Draco rolled his eyes. _So much for not bothering me._

"I'd rather not say, Weasley. Stop asking me questions that you have no business in knowing. Now, either sit there and be silent like the good little weasel you are, or leave me alone." He said in a cold, even voice. Draco had expected her to become enraged again and leave. To his surprise, she just glared at him, but fell silent. Unknown to him, his curt reply had sparked Ginny's interest. It wasn't that she cared – why would she care about Malfoy's sleeping habits? It was just pure curiosity that led her to question what would cause a Malfoy to lose sleep. The time passed quickly and he eventually heard a rustling as she got up to go back to bed without another word. He was left alone with nothing else but his own thoughts.

**. . . . . . . . . .**

Most nights passed like this. He would be sitting by himself, usually on the far side of the ledge, when he would hear the stairs creak and know that Ginny was on her way up. She would sit at the other end of the ledge and a peaceful silence would fall until one of them, usually Ginny first, would leave.

A week had passed since that day she had first stayed and sat with him.

Draco looked up to see Ginny at her end of the ledge, knees drawn up to her chest, thin dressing gown pulled over her shoulders, eyes staring darkly out at the glittering city.

Her body was no longer tense, the way it was when she had first thought she was going to have to fight a resisting Malfoy. Her red hair hung over one shoulder in a messy braid as she rested her chin on her upraised knee. She looked peaceful. And sleepy. Then she looked up and Draco stiffened, having being caught staring. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly and she nodded, getting up to go.

"Weasley, wait."

Ginny stopped and slowly turned, an inquisitive look etched on her face as she saw Draco standing up.

"Why do you come up here?" He asked bluntly.

He hesitated and continued. "It's just too tempting to rid myself of you and push your bothersome self over the ledge when you're not looking. Then the world would be one Weasley less, and a happier place." He finished, a bit too harshly, as if making up for his un-Malfoy-like behaviour.

Draco ran his hand through his hair. He didn't mean it of course. He just didn't want her thinking that he cared. He had noticed that she looked dead tired half the time she came up and knew that, unlike him, she wasn't there to think. He just wanted to know why she came up, why she had stayed.

Ginny stood looking thoughtfully at him for a moment.

**. . . . . . . . . .**

**Last week at the Three Broomsticks…**

"...and he says to me the next day, he says, 'Great Merlin boy! How fast does your hair grow!'" Fred slapped the table as he delivered the punch line of his story. Ginny and Blaise were howling with laughter and George was wiping away tears of mirth.

"He never gets tired of telling that one!" George managed to stop laughing for long enough to say.

The quartet had been at a small table at the back of the Three Broomsticks, bonding over the same cheeky sense of humour they all shared. Ginny was pleased that her brothers had taken the news of her moving in with two Slytherin guys so well; she knew that Ron would've had a fit had he just known of her close friendship with Blaise.

"Oh that _was_ a good story, Fred!" Ginny said appreciatively. "I just wish I could stay longer, but I have to be getting back to the shop. Trust you guys to come and steal me away when I specifically told you that I wanted to be left alone." She pouted in mock annoyance.

"Ah poor simple-minded Ginny," Fred sighed.

"Nobody really _wants_ to be alone..." George waggled his finger at her.

"Despite what they say," Fred winked.

**. . . . . . . . . .**

"Weasley?" Draco asked quietly, "I was just wondering _why_." He had confused himself, realising that he was actually concerned that he may have offended her.

Ginny tossed her thick braid across her shoulder and turned to walk down the steps. "Nobody should really be alone, Malfoy. Not even you," Ginny said softly over her shoulder.

Draco was left standing there, the wind whipping blond strands into his face, rendered speechless for once.

_Author's note: This was my very first attempt at fanfiction, but I had never gotten the nerve to publish it here. After publishing my second story, The One Who Was Always There, and seeing the positive reviews it got, I decided to add this story to the collection. The story will end here as I just wanted to give one of my versions of how "Draco/Ginny" first began. Hope you will like it!_


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